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Support and Practical Advice

Those who have experienced abuse and trauma within faith need to be heard, understood and validated.

There is not always the understanding of spiritual abuse and religious trauma within faith organisations.

The secular world or statutory services do not always understand faith, or the impact of the faith aspects of any abuse or trauma.

Those who have experienced abuse and trauma within faith can be left feeling isolated, misunderstood or sometimes judged. 

We offer a number of support services to those who have experienced abuse and trauma within faith

Support Services

We offer tailored support services to people in the UK who have experienced harm in faith cultures. This includes:

  • Survivors and victims of spiritual abuse
  • People who have experienced harm as a result of being in an unhealthy faith culture, even if they wouldn’t say they experienced direct abuse
  • People who are supporting others who have experienced harm within faith cultures
  • People who are concerned about an unhealthy or abusive faith culture and are deciding what action to take

If this is you and you would like support, please get in touch.

Our support process

Once you contact us, we will be in touch within 5 working days via email.

If we feel that our services are appropriate for your needs, we will offer you up to 6 support sessions, each lasting for one hour. We will decide together how you would like to use this time. We can help you with things like:

  • listening to your story and helping you make sense of your experiences. For some people this will be unhelpful, as talking about your experiences can make certain mental health problems worse, for example PTSD. There is never pressure to share your experiences, but if you would find it helpful, we are here to listen.
  • processing whether what you experienced or are witnessing is spiritual abuse
  • understanding your options for reporting any concerns
  • focus on what you need in the present and supporting you to make a plan for moving forwards
  • providing advocacy and support as you seek help from statutory services or other agencies, for example health care, social services, housing etc.

Support calls are offered over the phone or via Zoom.

As we are a registered charity in the UK, for legal reasons we are only able to offer support to those who are either currently based in the UK, or who were based in the UK at the time the harm occurred. If neither of these apply to you, you are still welcome to access our online resources, but we won’t be able to offer you our support services.

During busy periods we operate a waiting list, so there might be a wait before we can book in your first session.

If you would like to contact us anonymously

We understand that sometimes you might feel more comfortable contacting us anonymously. We do not have a support line so there is not a number that you can call. Instead, we recommend that you create a new email address which you don’t use anywhere else. You can do this using Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo mail, or any other email provider.

Your new email address does not need to include your name or any other identifiable information. You can use this email address to contact us.

We can arrange your support sessions over email, and then at the time of our call you can ring our volunteer with your number blocked, by typing *67 before the phone number. This way we won’t have your phone number.

We never share your personal information with anyone outside of our organisation, unless we are concerned for the safety of a vulnerable child or adult. If this is the case, we will speak to you first before we contact the relevant services. We will never give your details to any faith or spiritual organisation unless you ask us to. You can read more about this in our Safeguarding policy.

Cost of support

Our support is free to anyone who needs to access it.

If you are an organisation wanting to commission support services or refer people to us, there is an expectation that you will pay for the cost of this support. We will discuss this with you when you get in touch.

Our support services cost us £60 per session to run. If you would like to donate to cover all or part of a cost of a session, you are welcome to do so.

If someone accessing support decides to make a donation towards the cost of that support, they are welcome to do so. However those who donate will not receive any preferential treatment.

To give the necessary reassurance to callers, all support given is:

  • 1

    Confidential

    All calls are confidential (unless there is a concern that you or someone else is at risk of harm. In which case we will discuss any safeguarding action we need to take together and agree a way forward.)

  • 2

    Independent

    Whilst our support workers may have a faith, they are independent to any denomination or faith community. As an organisation we are completely independent.

  • 3

    Multi Faith and no faith

    Our support workers understand all faiths and no faith and provide support accordingly with understanding.

  • 4

    From Lived Experience

    All our support workers have lived experience of abuse and trauma within faith and callers value the fact that we “get it”

  • 5

    Inclusive

    Support is given based on need regardless of any protected characteristics, or any theological positions held in relation to any protected characteristics.

  • 6

    Free to Survivors

    All of our services are free to survivors. If an organisation wishes to refer people to us for support where there has been harm within that organisation, there is an expectation that the organisation will pay for the cost of that support.

“I just wanted to thank you for listening yesterday on the phone. I felt heard, understood and believed, which has been very healing for me…..It was such a release to hear the recognition in your voice that identified with what I was saying, where I have been misunderstood and at times criticised for my actions…..I know my journey is not yet complete, but I really feel supported by you and will definitely keep in touch.”

Conference / Training / Workshop / Research Project Support

Where the content and discussion matter of workshops, training, conference, or research projects may cause distress or may trigger previous experiences of abuse and trauma, we can provide support for delegates or participants.


This will be tailored to each situation dependant on the number of hours of support that may be needed, and the subject matter discussed.

The hourly cost will be £32 with a minimum of 7.5 hours (£240)

The cost will therefore be relative to the number of hours needed. Please contact us to discuss your needs.

Online Resources

We are currently developing online resources on common themes that we advise and support on.

We will also include links to other organisations resources and useful content, videos and information from other sources.
The resources will be published here once we have developed these and they are quality assured.

Replenished Life Survivors Facebook group.

Link – Replenished Life Survivors | Facebook

Replenished Life Researchers Forum

Link – Replenished Life Research Community | Facebook

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